Pistons' Charlie Villanueva will return to lineup against Bucks

AUBURN HILLS -- The Detroit Pistons are far from being totally healthy.

But they are getting closer and closer every day.

Detroit Pistons coach John Kuester on Thursday said forward Charlie Villanueva, who sat out the loss to Chicago on Wednesday after breaking his nose Sunday, will return to the lineup Friday night when the Pistons host Milwaukee.

Guard Ben Gordon, who returned from an ankle injury to play Wednesday, is expected to play as well.

"He should," Kuester said. "He's going to be sore. He showed a lot of courage (Wednesday) night in regards to going out and playing and recognizing it was going to be a hard night for him."

Forward Tayshaun Prince and guard Richard Hamilton, who have played in a combined four games this season, continue to get closer to returning to the lineup.

"Tayshaun did some light work and Rip is really aggressively doing some things," Kuester said, "but I'm not sure exactly what will happen for the Milwaukee game."

Kuester said he was thankful that Gordon fought his way back onto the court for the Pistons, who sorely needed his offensive presence Wednesday with Villanueva, Hamilton and Prince out of the lineup.

"He was going back to his home team that he had been with, that had drafted him, and he wasn't 100 percent and he still wanted to play and help the team," Kuester said. "I really appreciated that and told him afterwards."